The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CORTICAL
Definition of CORTICAL
adjective
Pertaining to the outer layer of an internal organ or body structure, such as the kidney or the brain.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Latin cortex (“bark”), stem cortic-, + -al.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Latin
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
32.5%
of traced words share this origin (8,497)
branch · 32.5% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CORTICAL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 131, 28 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 131, 28 September 2026.
Built from these letters
CORTICAL starts with C and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ACCILORT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. C appears more than once.
Words that start CORTIC
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found CORTICAL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 131 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER